AMERICAN THEATRE | ‘Warrior Sisters of Wu’: Humor and Ferocity on the Eve of War

At auditions for Damon Chua’s new play Warrior Sisters of Wu, actors not solely needed to seize the humor and ferocity of Wan and Qing, two of probably the most desired ladies in historic China—additionally they needed to showcase their swordplay and kung fu abilities. The play, in any case, opens with spurs flying in the dead of night because the sisters spar, and the combat goes on from there. Still, performing was paramount. As actor and combat grasp Michael G. Chin, who serves because the present’s combat choreographer, put it, “There’s no CGI onstage, so we have to adapt to the actor’s skill. It’s easier to teach an actor how to fight than a fighter how to act.”

Chua’s fashionable feminist adaptation of the 120-chapter 14th-century Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms—about how the collapse of the Han dynasty led to the division of the nation into the Wei, Shu-Han, and Wu kingdoms—was commissioned by Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and can premiere Feb. 7-March 10 at ART/NY. “It’s like adapting the Old Testament, The Iliad, or The Odyssey—I could spend my life adapting Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” mentioned Chua. 

He lastly honed in on a brief however important a part of the e-book, about two sisters within the southern Wu empire who vie with male generals and varied suitors on the eve of conflict. Incorporating parts paying homage to Much Ado About Nothing and Pride and Prejudice, it’s a narrative about robust, fierce ladies who combat for his or her nation and decide their very own destinies—which can clarify why these ladies have grow to be widespread online game characters within the twenty first century.

“The events are 200 A.D. and the novel was written in the 1300s, but a lot of it feels relevant,” mentioned director Jeff Liu. “Look at our own Supreme Court here—it’s an ongoing story about power and gender. Each culture has its own karmic path to work through.”

Onstage, although, the characters flip the drama on its head with a mixture of quippy one-liners and kickass comedy. Said Chua, “You have to lighten it up by having something people can understand and grab onto. Like the yin-yang symbol, it’s a matter of balance.”

Kelundra Smith (she/her) is managing editor of American Theatre.

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